Guild Wars 2

Hear, hear! (See, see?) The graphics are truly amazing. Only game I’ve ever played where I felt tempted to buy a new graphics card just so I could turn up the detail.

It’s just too bad much of the beauty goes to waste as most players just stick to dungeons or very specific zones. I try to soak it all in as much as I can and sometimes just wander the maps for the heck of it.

Yeah, GW2 world is really beautiful. Which is no surprise to me, since GW1 world was also astonishing. I remember going to some locations in GW1 just to admire the landscape after upgrading my PC so I could max everything, back in 2008.

I agree. I enjoy the look of this game so much that I often park my character in a favorite spot while I’m doing work or reading. Kinda like a living screen saver.

Zimlobo.3962:

I agree. I enjoy the look of this game so much that I often park my character in a favorite spot while I’m doing work or reading. Kinda like a living screen saver.

Wow, I’ve never thought about doing that before. I know a place where it’s a beautiful waterfall and the scenery is unbelievably breath-taking (I think it’s in sylvari land) sorry I’m a noob so don’t know the names of places yet :P

Nevertheless, thank you for the idea!

ehh i’ve seen better

Some pics for the masses.

Wow, those are some nice pics. Thanks for sharing. Many I have not seen yet (not too surprising, I only have 50% or so map completion).

It is indeed beautiful and those pictures are stunning. Thanks for sharing.

I concur, it rather is a remarkable world. Shame it’s plagued by defiled lore, grade school style writing and contradictory developer philosophy.

I agree, the world of Guild Wars 2 is so beautiful. Big thumbs up to the artists. Just wander around the woods for a while, listening to heavenly music. huhhh….something positive to counter all the negative news stories I read……..

The world of GW2 might be beautiful but the Living World is ruined it

Flash.6912:

The world of GW2 might be beautiful but the Living World is ruined it

I’m sorry how did the Living World impact the beauty of the world at all? The world isn’t any less beautiful due to the Living World.

I’ve played many MMOs and thought the design and art work wonderful, when each launched, but the graphics dated quickly.

However GW2 knocks them all into tricorn hat and I think it will be a very long time before the graphics look outdated.

Sometimes I just stop and pause, then take a look around and really notice the view. It’s absolutely gorgeous. How about a few coffee houses dotted around, where we could sit on the chairs and watch the world go by?

World design of GW2 is probably one of the best I’ve ever seen in an MMO.

It is beautiful indeed, by far the most beautiful MMO.

I play in 1440p with everything cranked up and it even puts most single player games to shame.

Without question. Guild Wars 2 greatest feat is its art, animations and stunning scenery, there is no debate there. Its the rest of the game play and game design that’s the problem and unfortunately for ArenaNet that’s a pretty big problem to have.

Im just curious why aren’t borderlands as beautiful and bit more thematicaly varied as Tyria is. Is only thing that grows in mists grass, with sporadic tree here and there?

kRiza krimos.1637:

Im just curious why aren’t borderlands as beautiful and bit more thematicaly varied as Tyria is. Is only thing that grows in mists grass, with sporadic tree here and there?

They do a good job of having war-zones as barren, centaur zone is mostly treeless other areas with large scale troop movements is the same. Borderlands is pure war-zone should not be a lot of scenery.

Yargesh.4965:

kRiza krimos.1637:

Im just curious why aren’t borderlands as beautiful and bit more thematicaly varied as Tyria is. Is only thing that grows in mists grass, with sporadic tree here and there?

They do a good job of having war-zones as barren, centaur zone is mostly treeless other areas with large scale troop movements is the same. Borderlands is pure war-zone should not be a lot of scenery.

Then there shouldnt be much grass either since armies march there all the time. Yet its all green.

Also, swamp will still be swamp even in warzone. Hell, if it would look more like harrati hinterlands it would still be better looking than generic grasslands…

Vayne.8563:

I’m sorry how did the Living World impact the beauty of the world at all? The world isn’t any less beautiful due to the Living World.

They destroyed Kessex Hills with an ugly tower and corruption!!!!!!

(Sorry, I just had to, I actually like the changes..)

My daughter loves to run around in The Grove and Caledon Forest because, “it looks like a fairytale.” I have to agree, it’s quite breathtaking.

lordkrall.7241:

Vayne.8563:

I’m sorry how did the Living World impact the beauty of the world at all? The world isn’t any less beautiful due to the Living World.

They destroyed Kessex Hills with an ugly tower and corruption!!!!!!

(Sorry, I just had to, I actually like the changes..)

I am glad I have many images of the landscape of pre-ToN Kessex. I like the scale of the changes ToN brought to the landscape, but I really hope that we will see it returned to its gorgeous state once again down the road.

I almost started a Kessex Hills memorial thread at the start of ToN to see everyone’s old screenshots of the area, considering we may not see it as it was for several months.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The art team is the soul of GW1 and 2. They created the world and rendered the character looks and movements. The design and balance devs like to pat themselves on the back over this game, but all that they have done is mess it up.

gamemaster.7154:

Some pics for the masses.

Oh wow yes !! look at that beautiful atmosphere, the landscape and the screenshots you could take, Im gonna do that… oh wait, THE kittenING CHARCTER IS BLOCKING THE ENTIRE SCREEN!

Anet really? Arguably the best looking game in a long time, and it’s hindered with a kittening big kitten norn in the way – gg.

The world of Gw2 is beautiful and even better when you find its hidden secrets.

Hidden Gardens is one of my favorite parts of the game. I have numerous screenshots of that one.

I still run around in, what I call, Vanilla GW2, either leveling alts or on my main just for the beauty of the game.

to cartoonish but acceptable there are more realist ones on mmo industrtry w/o being rendered, btw good screens u guys got there, i shoud had saved mine :/

Also wanted to include some more screenshots.
Can view them here: http://stinvec.imgur.com if you would like.
I use FXAA PPI for enhanced anti-aliasing, color richness, bloom effect, sharpness, etc.
I also have side-by-side comparisons with ‘vanilla’ GW2 settings there.

StinVec.3621:

Also wanted to include some more screenshots.
Can view them here: http://stinvec.imgur.com if you would like.
I use FXAA PPI for enhanced anti-aliasing, color richness, bloom effect, sharpness, etc.
I also have side-by-side comparisons with ‘vanilla’ GW2 settings there.

I am using Sweet FX to enhance and am getting close to some of the best graphics shown in these screenies. I am still learning how to do this stuff.

Do you think FXAA PPI is better than Sweet FX?

Sweet FX has come a long way to where you do not need to tweak any code/make changes in text files to get results and I believe it now has a GUI, though I still see many having issues with it running right/at all or finding it difficult to get the results they desire. I haven’t used Sweet FX for quite a while, but I have no real desire to switch from FXAA PPI as I’m very happy with its options and results. Also, having absolutely no game crash issues that I see others having with Sweet FX is nice. I’m not sure if one is better than the other in a broad or technical sense, but I find FXAA PPI to be very easy to adjust with clearly defined effects so it is easy to know what to tweak to get the results I desire. It really has a lot of options. I also have absolutely no performance loss with it unless I go real overboard on the bloom passes. I’ll check out what Sweet FX has been up to lately, though the guy/people behind FXAA PPI state Sweet FX will be integrated into it in the future anyway, along with DX10/11. They’re still working on it though.

@StinVec.. let me know what you find out. I am checking out FXAA PPI, ok, my wife is because I am a techno idiot.

My wife had the hard crash that required her to uninstall Sweet FX and reinstall it, which completely resolved her issue. I am having an issue where, in game, the game “stutters” as I call it but I think it is a computer issue due to other problems outside of game.

Here is a screenshot under my current SweetFX settings with no photoshop fancies that my wife can do:

Amazing topic. Loving the pics. Ill try to put in some effort and get some good ones of my own

StinVec.3621:

Sweet FX has come a long way to where you do not need to tweak any code/make changes in text files to get results and I believe it now has a GUI, though I still see many having issues with it running right/at all or finding it difficult to get the results they desire.

Most guys i talked to use specific presets (Dark V2 in most cases) and finetune a bit from there. I agree that it could be a bit more userfriendly. But once you have the settings right it doesnt require any extra thought anyways.

I do think that a tool like this (or what youre using) greatly enhances the looks of this game. So its almost a must imo.

StinVec.3621:

Also wanted to include some more screenshots.
Can view them here: http://stinvec.imgur.com if you would like.
I use FXAA PPI for enhanced anti-aliasing, color richness, bloom effect, sharpness, etc.
I also have side-by-side comparisons with ‘vanilla’ GW2 settings there.

Beautiful!!!!

What a beautiful wor…kitten BEAR!!

Original Poster

Arcain.9106:

What a beautiful wor…kitten BEAR!!

Original Poster

That actually made me laugh out loud…a bit too loud, actually. Even got a “There’s something wrong with you” look from someone nearby.

I’m working on 100% on my next character and I find myself not skipping vista cut scenes.

I actually have a habit of mashing the screenshot key during vistas only to find that I already did that the first time around.

Gregori.5807:

@StinVec.. let me know what you find out. I am checking out FXAA PPI, ok, my wife is because I am a techno idiot.

My wife had the hard crash that required her to uninstall Sweet FX and reinstall it, which completely resolved her issue. I am having an issue where, in game, the game “stutters” as I call it but I think it is a computer issue due to other problems outside of game.

Here is a screenshot under my current SweetFX settings with no photoshop fancies that my wife can do:

:D Techie wife, so awesome.

Here was a discussion from about 6 months ago with some others on the application. Some more info there as well:

• https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/8-months-and-zero-optimization/1904467
• https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/8-months-and-zero-optimization/1910878

It has some settings screenshots/file links there also for what settings I was using at the time. I switch up and tweak them frequently. If I am on my warrior I tend to adjust settings so I roam areas with almost a medieval tone to where things seem less saturated/cartoony and have a bit of a darker atmosphere or a less rich color to the environment. Sometimes I tweak it so it has that dirty western feel for one of my rangers. Sepia tone, scan line and noise adjustments are really great for this, especially to add a bit of a film grain quality as if in a western movie. If you want any more info that I can provide I’d be happy to discuss the app settings and stuff even via PM if you’d prefer.

Mel.8769:

StinVec.3621:

Also wanted to include some more screenshots.
Can view them here: http://stinvec.imgur.com if you would like.
I use FXAA PPI for enhanced anti-aliasing, color richness, bloom effect, sharpness, etc.
I also have side-by-side comparisons with ‘vanilla’ GW2 settings there.

Beautiful!!!!

Thanks, Mel.
My screenshots folder is getting to be over a gig in size. I really should start uploading more of them to my imgur gallery.

This world is such a beautiful place. I’ve spent the majority of my 2,442 hours just wandering around looking at everything and staring off into the distance over landscapes.

You guys want pretty scenery? Allow me to delve into my collection! The picture order also pretty much follows my first character’s path through the world.

(It should be noted many of these shots were before the game was fully optimized so please excuse less than perfect quality. Uhg, they looks so…old now.)

I may as well add a few of my own, not even taken them on higher settings, keep forgetting to change them prior lol.

I’m the commander shepard and this are my favorite places in GW1, please make it comeback by the way let’s not forget so many places looking stunning at some day/ night time too. Swamp of gods near to sunset is wow and all shiver peaks zones FTW!

I see trees of green… red roses too! I see them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself…. what a wonderful world!

Ellewind.9640:

I’m the commander shepard and this are my favorite places in GW1, please make it comeback by the way let’s not forget so many places looking stunning at some day/ night time too. Swamp of gods near to sunset is wow and all shiver peaks zones FTW!

The bunny place! Yay.

I’ll share some of mine. Tyria’s gorgeous! Sadly they were taken before I started using SweetFX.

The lack of a first-person POV often frustrates me.

Thought this was a good place to add this image.
It is Pre-Tower of Nightmares Kessex Hills transitioning into the toxic wasteland we see today.

I wonder how long the clean up efforts will take after ‘S’ (I refuse to say her name) and her krait/nightmare court alliance are defeated and pushed out of the area. I should hope at least 3-4 two-week updates where each update gradually fixes the zone. That would be really nice to see; a gradual reversion of the zone over several updates. Now that would be a living world.